Forum: Two ch3 ch4

Name:
Date:
Class:
Confidentiality at the Workplace.
In recent years, developments in the field of organizational behavior have led to the progress of some of its more exceptional elements such as the work behavior of employees. This is established from various factors, chief amongst them being the employee’s personality. In an attempt at understanding an employee’s character, multiple parameters may be applied to establish a criterion. One of the most popular parameters is the use of an attitude survey, administered to employees through a question. Further, some have noted that amongst the factor, which may make or break an inquest of this nature is the confidentiality with which the exercise takes place. Ideally, the identities of all the parties to these tests must be treated with utmost secrecy (Sliter et al. 24). Not only must the status of the employees providing information be kept confidential, but also any allegations leveled by themselves, only until they have been empirically proven.
This begs the question of the potential advantages and misgivings of divulging this otherwise confidential information. One of the most glaring advantages of disclosing this information is that actual action can be taken faster in an attempt at remedying the situation for not only the comfort of the complaining employee but also to merely establish the truth. The latter is motivated by the belief that employees are not motivated to divulge exclusively accurate information (Sliter et al.

24).
On the other hand, one of the primary disadvantages of disclosing such information through such subversive means is that it is a breach of an ethical obligation to uphold confidentiality in such matters. Also, such knowledge is likely to form the basis of prejudice, hampering the actual solution of the problem.
When faced with such a situation as a manager, it is imperative to handle the matter with utmost care. This is so because the confidentiality of these matters often is their core. Making them public is a slippery slope for all parties concerned. A manager can ensure that confidential information stays so through the inclusion of various strategies. This may take the form of work legislation through the introduction of regulations upholding this confidentiality. The manager may also strictly control access to such information with the main aim here of ensuring that not even personal acquaintances have the chance to divulge this information. Further, a manager may also abandon these means of personality testing and instead embrace other testing regimes such as behavior assessment and performance rating techniques.

Works Cited
Sliter, Michael, Scott Withrow, and Steve M. Jex. “It happened, or you thought it happened? Examining the perception of workplace incivility based on personality characteristics.” International Journal of Stress Management 22.1 (2015): 24.